After gathering the mandrake roots along the way, the group finally arrived at the shortcut within the labyrinth.
As the team's trap expert and master lockpicker, Zirchak was undeniably skilled. However, he had to contend with the reckless and impulsive Sensei.
"In this team, everyone has their own role. Cooking is up to you and me, gathering ingredients is your and Kaos' specialty. Maruciel provides magical support, and Zirchak handles traps and disarming them," White Mo explained. "We're a team now. How about putting a little more trust in your teammates?"
Zirchak, who had been on the verge of exploding with frustration, let out a deep sigh after hearing White Mo's words. Still, his expression remained sour.
After all, he had clearly warned Sensei about the trap locations, but Sensei continued charging forward, causing the traps to constantly endanger Zirchak, Kaos, and Maruciel. If not for the fact that he couldn't beat Sensei, Zirchak might've already thrown a punch.
As for White Mo—who also never triggered a trap—Zirchak chose to ignore that anomaly entirely.
"Could it be… he's using some kind of brute-force method to disable the traps?"
"That's some impressive skill…"
Once again saving Maruciel from being cleaved in two by a falling blade, White Mo sighed and said to Sensei, "Sensei, maybe you should start listening to Zirchak."
"You not listening is one thing—but how is it your luck is better than mine? These traps act like they belong to your family. They don't even target you!"
Hearing this, Sensei finally realized his mistake.
He wasn't operating alone anymore. He had teammates now.
The potential conflict dissipated with a few words, much to the relief of Maruciel and Kaos.
Since two former teammates had left without notice, Kaos was still feeling the sting of abandonment. Back then, he only had to look after himself during trap encounters. But now, he had four others to protect.
After White Mo's words, Sensei showed he wasn't stubborn. He turned to Zirchak and sincerely apologized.
"Sorry, that was my bad. I've just been on my own for so long—"
"It's fine," Zirchak cut in. "But from now on, please follow my instructions exactly."
"Got it. You're the boss when it comes to traps!"
Looking at the nimble Zirchak, Sensei couldn't help but smile.
"I was about to say—you really are amazing with traps!"
"Heh… I guess I'm okay."
Thanks to White Mo's mediation, no team conflict broke out—thankfully.
Once they passed through the trap-laden chamber, they found a room on the other side filled with treasure chests.
Seeing the thirty-odd chests lined up, White Mo—experiencing this kind of treasure-hunting adventure for the first time—was visibly excited.
"So these are the famous labyrinth chests? What's usually inside them?"
"Gold, magic weapons, rare alchemy ingredients?"
"Booby traps, boiling oil, poison gas, acid mist—anything really," Kaos muttered.
"No, that's not entirely true," Zirchak corrected. "What you mentioned can show up, but most of the time? It's traps."
"I can unlock the chests, but it takes too long."
White Mo nodded in understanding—then grinned and pointed at himself.
"Have you all forgotten about me?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Back up a bit and watch me perform!"
Though unsure what he planned, the others trusted White Mo and retreated several meters.
Worst case scenario? If he died, Maruciel could always revive him. In a labyrinth, resurrection wasn't too hard.
Once they stepped back, White Mo picked a random chest and forcefully pried it open.
A blast of boiling oil surged out—but White Mo was ready. A large stone megaphone-like contraption had already been deployed in front of him, funneling all the oil neatly into a stone jar below.
After the oil finished spraying, he dismantled the megaphone funnel, swirled the jar of oil, and examined it.
"Looks like olive oil. Could come in handy later—I'll stash it in my Divine Eye space."
He repeated the process on two more chests. One sprayed more oil, and the other unleashed three loaded crossbows.
The moment the lid was lifted, all three crossbows fired simultaneously—but not only did they fail to penetrate White Mo's stone funnel, the bolts were intercepted midair.
He retrieved the three glowing blue bolts and the well-maintained crossbows from the chest, then casually tossed two to Zirchak.
"Zirchak, I know you're not a fighter, but these should be pretty easy to use. Keep them—you never know."
"Th-thank you," Zirchak stammered, slightly embarrassed.
Technically, these were White Mo's loot, but he was handing them out freely. A heavy-duty crossbow like this would cost dozens of gold coins on the market.
But White Mo didn't care. He kept one as a souvenir and eagerly resumed his treasure hunt.
In total, there were 36 treasure chests in the room:
20 contained boiling oil traps5 contained poison gas3 had hidden crossbows4 had corrosive acid2 were magic-based explosive trapsOnly 2 chests contained real treasures
One had a pile of gold and silver, which didn't interest White Mo much.
But the other chest held something fascinating—a full suit of golden armor modeled after a winged lion. Alongside it were a matching weapon and a golden shield, all exquisitely crafted.
Dwarven-born Sensei examined the items, tapped on them, and commented with a strange tone:
"These are all made of mithril. If someone were to buy them… they'd go for hundreds of thousands—maybe over a million gold coins!"
"Gulp—"
Everyone involuntarily swallowed.
That much money could make someone a noble in any kingdom, buy thousands of acres of land, and live in luxury for the rest of their life.
Not to mention, the other chest full of gold and silver alone was worth tens of thousands.
With this one treasure room, White Mo had basically entered the upper class.
Looking at the loot, Kaos hesitated, then spoke:
"White, you've already gotten so much. Even if you don't want to come with us anymore, I'd understand. Once we leave this passage, we can part ways."
White Mo chuckled.
"We're talking about a million gold coins here. Aren't you tempted? With this money, you could hire an entire team to help search for your sister."
"…That's true, but this is your loot. We didn't help at all," Kaos replied honestly.
White Mo smiled.
"You really are too serious."
With that, he picked up the mithril winged lion armor and shoved it at Kaos.
"Try it on. See if it fits. Just don't scratch it!"
"Wait—you're serious?"
"Just think of it as me loaning it to you. Once you rescue your sister, make sure to give it back."
"This is too valuable… I—"
"Stop babbling. When the time comes, pay me back by taking a hit for me if you must."
"This is what I should be doing!"
"Then ditch that old tin can you're wearing. It's probably not going to hold up anymore. Go on—try it!"
After Kaos walked away to change, White Mo glanced at his skill panel, specifically at his Golden Gourmet Ruleability, and shook his head in amusement.
"Man… that thing's really putting in the work today."
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T/N:
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